Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour revealed Tuesday she has no intention of retiring, as the fashion legend accepted her latest prestigious UK honour from King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.
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Wintour, 75 – already made a dame in 2017 – was this time made a companion of honour, joining a select group never numbering more than 65 recognised for major contributions in their field.
Renowned British artist Tracey Emin was also at the palace Tuesday to formally receive her damehood, after both women were named in Charles’ first birthday honours list in 2023.
“It’s wonderful to be back at Buckingham Palace and I was completely surprised and overwhelmed to be given this great honour,” said Wintour, who removed her trademark sunglasses to receive it.
British-born Wintour – who has helmed American Vogue for more than three decades – noted that when she was last honoured, by Queen Elizabeth II, “we both agreed that we had been doing our job a very long time”.
“Then this morning His Majesty asked me if this meant I was going to stop working and I said firmly, no,” she added, wearing an Alexander McQueen outfit.
“It makes me even more convinced that I have so much more to achieve.”
The Order of the Companions of Honour, founded in 1917 by King George V, is limited to 65 members at any one time.
Those who have made a long-standing contribution to arts, science, medicine or government can be appointed, with Judi Dench, Elton John, David Hockney current honourees.
Wintour, who was raised in the UK to a British father and an American mother, has edited Vogue in the United States since 1988.
Over the ensuing decades she has earned a reputation as one of the most influential and formidable figures in fashion.
Emin, 61, one of Britain’s best-known living artists, was made a dame for her services to art.
A leading figure in the provocative Young British Artists movement of the late 1980s and 1990s, she has battled cancer and has undergone major surgery in recent years.
Luxury skiwear brand Perfect Moment announced on Monday several leadership changes, as the London-headquartered firm looks to strengthen its management team, ahead of its next phase of growth.
Perfect Moment
Leading the changes, Chath Weerasinghe has been appointed chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Perfect Moment. Weerasinghe joins the company from Canada Goose, where he served as regional director and vice president of finance and operations for Canada Goose EMEA, and he was responsible for the Canadian outerwear giant’s global expansion.
Likewise, Vittorio Giacomelli, former president of product and sourcing at Canada Goose, has also joined Perfect Moment, where will be responsible for overseeing product strategy, product development, and innovation. The executive has decades of expertise in design, product development, and sourcing, as he held stints at Moncler, The North Face, Napapijri, and Nike.
Meanwhile, Perfect Moment co-founder and chief creative officer, Jane Gottschalk, has been appointed president of the company. Gottschalk will continue to oversee the company’s creative direction as well as marketing, commercial and brand strategy.
The management changes come at a transformative time for Perfect Moment, as the firm looks to strengthen its position in the luxury outerwear market, while resonating strongly with a younger demographic seeking individuality and innovation, according to a press release.
“These leadership changes reflect our commitment to building a world-class team that matches the potential of the Perfect Moment brand,” said Perfect Moment chairman, Max Gottschalk. “Chath’s operational expertise, Vittorio’s extensive experience in production, and Jane’s creative leadership provides us a powerful foundation to drive growth and establish Perfect Moment as a leader in the luxury outerwear market.”
In its most recent trading update in November, the Chamonix-founded company said revenues plunged 35 percent to $3.8 million in the second quarter, on the back of a decline in collaborations revenue, partially offset by gains in its e-commerce vertical.
Employers will be banned from using artificial intelligence to track their staff’s emotions and websites will not be allowed to use it to trick users into spending money under EU AI guidelines announced on Tuesday.
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The guidelines from the European Commission come as companies grapple with the complexity and cost of complying with the world’s first legislation on the use of the technology.
The Artificial Intelligence Act, binding since last year, will be fully applicable on Aug. 2, 2026, with certain provisions kicking in earlier, such as the ban on certain practices from Feb. 2 this year.
“The ambition is to provide legal certainty for those who provide or deploy the artificial intelligence systems on the European market, also for the market surveillance authorities. The guidelines are not legally binding,” a Commission official told reporters.
Prohibited practices include AI-enabled dark patterns embedded in services designed to manipulate users into making substantial financial commitments, and AI-enabled applications which exploit users based on their age, disability or socio-economic situation.
AI-enabled social scoring using unrelated personal data such as origin and race by social welfare agencies and other public and private bodies is banned, while police are not allowed to predict individuals’ criminal behaviour solely based on their biometric data if this has not been verified.
Employers cannot use webcams and voice recognition systems to track employees’ emotions, while mobile CCTV cameras equipped with AI-based facial recognition technologies for law enforcement purposes are prohibited, with limited exceptions and stringent safeguards.
EU countries have until Aug. 2 to designate market surveillance authorities to enforce the AI rules. AI breaches can cost companies fines ranging from 1.5% to 7% of their total global revenue.
The EU AI Act is more comprehensive than the United States’ light-touch voluntary compliance approach while China’s approach aims to maintain social stability and state control.
Alexandre Arnault is taking a key role at LVMH‘s $6 billion wine and spirits business just as U.S. President Donald Trump risks unleashing a trade war, complicating a turnaround effort that could decide the 32-year-old’s future in his father’s empire.
Reuters
The alcohol division, whose brands include Moët & Chandon champagne and Hennessy cognac, has seen its revenues fall for two straight years and its operating profit plunge by over a third in 2024.
Its challenges are only likely to get tougher if Trump’s newly-imposed tariffs on China add to an economic slowdown there, and if he follows through on threatened levies on Europe.
Alexandre Arnault, one of LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault‘s five children vying for more responsibility in their father’s empire, told Reuters he needed a few months to draw up a plan.
“Give us 100 days to wrap our heads around it and understand the business … because it’s a business that will need a lot of restructuring,” he said on the sidelines of the group’s annual results last week.
The United States is the wine and spirit unit’s largest market by sales, with just over a third of its high-end cognac and champagne sold there. Accounting for less than 10% of LVMH group sales, the unit is vulnerable to trade tensions.
Trade data shows LVMH’s cognac business increased deliveries to the U.S. in December as distributors built up inventories. France’s luxury groups were hit in Trump’s first presidential term when he targeted champagne and handbags over a French digital services tax he decided would harm U.S. firms.
“Whilst we continue to believe that the U.S. spirits market will recover further, tariffs bring short-term uncertainty,” Barclays wrote in a note on Tuesday.
Bernard Arnault and members of his family have cultivated personal ties with Trump. Bernard, his wife Helene Mercier, Alexandre, and daughter Delphine, who runs Dior, sat right behind America’s former presidents at Trump’s inauguration. Praising a “wind of optimism” in the United States, Bernard Arnault said last week that LVMH was looking at raising production capacity there.
Alexandre took over as deputy CEO of the alcohol unit on Monday, alongside long-time LVMH finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony, an industry veteran. Alexandre marked the change on his Instagram account with a post showing he was heading to one of LVMH’s grand cru estates in Burgundy.
Shedding parts of the struggling business was “not on the agenda”, Bernard Arnault said last week in response to recent speculation LVMH could revisit its ties to Diageo, which holds a minority stake in the drinks division. He said he would keep a close eye on the next moves from his son and Guiony.
“I’m sure they’ll get everything back on the growth track. Let’s give them two years to show what they can do,” Bernard Arnault, 75, said.
Alexandre is expected to draw on his experience from previous executive roles at German suitcase maker Rimowa and U.S. jeweller Tiffany & Co, where his missions were to revive somewhat ageing brands, freshly acquired by LVMH.
At Tiffany, he grabbed headlines with a buzzy ad campaign featuring Beyonce and Jay-Z while shaking up the nearly 200-year-old brand’s image with a controversial new slogan: “Not Your Mother’s Tiffany”. The brand’s end-of-year performance showed some signs of improvement, analysts said.
LVMH has struggled to find growth in its high-end wine and spirits after several years of high inflation in Western economies and as younger drinkers shift to mixed and non-alcoholic drinks.
“It’s a business with less growth expectations than other parts of the company, the difficulties are here to stay”, Barclays analyst Carole Madjo told Reuters.
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